Infrastructure bank losing advocates

With Kay Bailey Hutchison gone from the Senate and John Kerry probably soon to follow, supporters of creating a national infrastructure bank are searching for a new champion.

Hutchison and Kerry co-sponsored legislation that would have created an infrastructure bank aimed at leveraging public- and private-sector dollars to help seed large projects, particularly those that span regions. The idea has never quite gained traction, despite years of floating around the Capitol, but infrastructure advocates continue to press for it.

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Kerry’s likely departure for the State Department will be a particular blow, considering the tenacity with which he operates and his fervent desire to see an infrastructure bank realized.

“For too long now, we have lacked adequate investments in our infrastructure, and what building we have done has been without a long-term strategic plan,” the Massachusetts Democrat said during a 2011 hearing on transportation financing. “A national infrastructure bank will change that. A national infrastructure bank will make Americans builders again.”

Marcia Hale, president of Building America’s Future, one of the main groups pressing for a national infrastructure bank, said losing Kerry will be bad, but losing Hutchison may be even worse. The Texas Republican left Thursday with the end of the 112th Congress.

“Hutchison was really important in this process,” Hale said, adding that whatever Democrat might take up Kerry’s mantle in the Senate will need a GOP partner to have any hope of success. “A partnership with a Republican is key.”

But Hale said that even if Kerry joins the administration, he probably won’t give up on the idea — especially since his former aide who worked on the infrastructure bank legislation, Heidi Crebo-Rediker, now works at the State Department. Much of Kerry’s bill was based on a long examination of how other countries do their infrastructure banks.

The most likely person to lead the charge now is Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a co-sponsor of the Kerry-Hutchison bill who was heavily involved in the infrastructure bank legislation. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) was also involved with the bill, but he might resign or face a primary challenge from Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker.

Kevin Hall, Warner’s spokesman, said his office has yet to figure out his priorities for the 113th Congress. But advocates for an infrastructure bank are already looking to him for leadership.

Hale said she hadn’t spoken directly with Warner or his staff. But she said that “he really believes in it” and has “many strong relationships with Republicans.”

What Republican might come to dance on the infrastructure bank idea remains to be seen, but it probably won’t be Sen. John Thune, the South Dakota Republican set to replace Hutchison as the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

During a Commerce hearing last summer, Thune said he’s concerned about the impact of an infrastructure bank on rural areas, such as his state, saying it would “primarily benefit larger, metropolitan areas while ignoring the needs of rural states.”

He added that rural drivers, who drive disproportionately longer distances than urban drivers, “would be looking at paying a significantly large amount in toll fees or other dedicated revenue sources so as to help repay the national infrastructure bank loan.” That echoes the criticism rural advocates often level against the idea of switching to a vehicle miles traveled fee to pay for highway projects.